Tom Colicchio characterizes his role on “Top Chef” as both a judge and coach.

Speaking by phone on the morning after the Season 15 finale that saw Chicago chef Joe Flamm win, Colicchio said judging food, criticizing and offering constructive criticism is a careful balancing act.

“I can’t tell them what to do,” he said. “In telling them to do something, if they do it, then I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. Typically, if I’m giving advice, it’s in the form of a question so they can take from that what they like. But it changes from season to season.

“Sometimes I feel that they need more encouragement,” he said.

This is what he had to say about this season’s competition:

What were this season’s chefs like?

I got a sense this season that they all could cook, but they weren’t very consistent. I also got a sense that the challenges and the game and everything was getting in their head and getting in the way.

When do you get a sense of who might win?

You can get a pretty good sense of the level that someone is working at, but the way we judge, if you make the worst dish, you go home. It’s not a cumulative event.

Usually what I can tell pretty soon is who’s probably not going to last long. It usually has to do with experience because coming up with a dish on the fly and executing it is really hard to do.

But it’s really hard to figure out who’s going to win.

Why did Joe Flamm win and not Adrienne Cheatham?

She put together nice dishes. It wasn’t a disaster. She didn’t fall apart. She cooked very good food.

His was better.

And quite frankly, man, for a lot of reasons I wanted her to win. If you follow me on Twitter, you know my politics.

But I can’t factor that in, I can’t. I have to be honest. And again, it was unanimous. There was no one out there who thought we should have done anything differently.

Now, the show definitely gives them a showcase. I think what the show does is it makes it easier for them to raise money to try to open up a restaurant, or if there’s a job opening, someone will say “Hey! This person has exposure” and they think that the exposure would turn into additional PR for them. Yeah, but you’ve still got to perform.

You still have to be a good chef.

You can’t hide behind the PR thing. It doesn’t last very long and there’s plenty of chefs without naming names who were on the show, and were funny and were characters, and they did pretty well. But they haven’t gone on to do very much.

Do you stay in touch with any of the chefs who have come through “Top Chef?”

Not really, partly because a while ago I stopped the culinary tour. I don’t do a bunch of festivals, and that’s where we all see each other. After a while you get tired of the road.

The only one I keep up with is Harold Dieterle from Season One. We occasionally fish together but that’s it.

During the finale, all of the judges were wearing Planned Parenthood lapel pins. Refresh our memories: What was going on at the time you were filming this?

Oh, that was June. Planned Parenthood was under attack, and women, in general, were under attack. Padma (Lakshmi) actually had been working with Planned Parenthood, and she had the pins. She asked if we would wear them. Of course, I’m a supporter. So that’s why we did it obviously not knowing it was going to be International Women’s Day when it aired, but that worked out nicely.

Some people are afraid to show their politics because they don’t want it to affect their career.

Still?

Are you not bothered by the backlash?

Listen, I think it’s everyone’s right in a democracy to speak out, and I think that people actually respect you for it. I also think that in a democracy that people should get involved. People should understand the issues and get out and vote and participate in our democracy. It’s something that I try to teach my children. It’s just the way I prefer to live. Are people going to say I’m not going to his restaurant because I’m not a Trump supporter? Fine. Are they going to my restaurant anyway? Probably not. I think being critical of our elected leaders is part of the democratic process.

“I actually look forward to it. It’s like going to summer camp. You’re gone for five or six weeks. You go to a different location. I play guitar and there’s a bunch of musicians in the crew so we get together and play. I lead a very different lifestyle on the set than I do at home.

At home, I have my wife and kids, and I go home most nights and have dinner with my family.

There, I’m going out and having dinner with friends. So that’s fun. Also, the bonus for me doing the show is I get to meet a lot of young talent that I probably wouldn’t get to meet unless I get out to their restaurant, which I don’t do as much as I used to. So it’s a great way to meet upcoming talent and see what’s out there.

Los Angeles Daily News reporter Sandra Barrera has been writing about entertainment and lifestyle topics since 1998. Before joining the Daily News in 2000, she was a reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario where she helped launch the now-defunct entertainment magazine 72HOURS as its music writer. Her reporting career at the Daily News has included fashion coverage from the red carpet at Hollywood's biggest awards shows, home and garden trends with a particular focus on earth-friendly alternatives and a wide range of events, from theater to the latest happenings at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

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